


009

by Geekishfangirl



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016), The Outsiders - All Media Types, The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton
Genre: Alternate Universe - Stranger Things Fusion, Alternate Universe - The Outsiders (S. E. Hinton) Fusion, Billy Hargrove Needs a Hug, Billy Hargrove Redemption, Child Abuse, Childhood Trauma, Constructive Criticism Welcome, Crossover, Curtis parents will probably live, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/M, Flashbacks, Haven’t fully decided yet, Haven’t fully figured out everything but this is just the prologue so, Human Experimentation, I feel like there should be more tags but f it, Idk if there won’t be any canon ships in this, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Insecure Ponyboy, I’m so sorry, Kidnapping, MK Ultra, Mind Control, Minor Character Death, My First AO3 Post, My First Fanfic, POV Ponyboy Curtis, Panic Attacks, Past Child Abuse, Ponyboy Curtis Needs a Hug, Psychokinesis, Soccer Mom Steve Harrington, Stranger Things 2, Stranger Things 3, Stranger Things Spoilers, Telekinesis, Telepathy, The Author Regrets Everything, Trauma, Will Byers Needs a Hug, energy healing, i wrote this at 2 in the morning, no beta we die like men, powers, probably, this is awful
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:01:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23345863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Geekishfangirl/pseuds/Geekishfangirl
Summary: When five year old Ponyboy Curtis dissapears from the park one day the people of Tulsa assume he’s dead. However, years later when two tweens with powers escape from captivity and people seem to be vanishing day by day in Hawkins, things start to seem like they might be more complicated than anyone could have ever imagined. (Or the Stranger Things/The Outsiders crossover nobody asked for)
Relationships: Dustin Henderson/Suzie, Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler, Maxine "Max" Mayfield/Lucas Sinclair
Comments: 19
Kudos: 46





	1. Prologue

“Darry, they’re going with you.”

Darry sighed and looked over his shoulder at his mother.

“Do they have to? Why can’t they stay here?”

His mom, Katie Curtis, put her hands on her hips and gave him a stern look. The eleven year old boy had asked to go to the park. Some of his buddies had called to ask if he could come and play football with them. When his mom said yes he was overjoyed and had immediately run back to his room to put on his shoes. Then he grabbed his football and sprinted for the door. He couldn’t wait to get there! Darry didn’t think there was anything he loved more than that sport. He was really good at it too! His dad, Darrel Curtis Sr., had taught him to play and said that if he kept it up he could make the highschool team when he was older. Even better, he could use it to get a scholarship in college! Darry may be young but he was passionate about this and he believed he could do it.

It wasn’t until he was turning the knob to the front door that his mom called out to him. “Wait! Darry!”

When he turned around he was surprised to find his mother helping put shoes on three year old Ponyboy, along with a five year old Sodapop smiling at him from his mother’s side.

Darry felt some of his excitement crumble away as he realized what this meant. Still, he couldn’t help but hope that he was wrong. “Yes?” He answered as his mom finished tying Pony’s shoes.

“Take your brothers with you,” She said as she stood Ponyboy up next to Sodapop. “they can play together while you play with your friends. Just be sure to watch them, okay?”

Darry didn’t understand how he was supposed to do that. He had started to argue saying he couldn’t keep an eye on them if he was playing and then turned to the door once again. That is how they got to where they are now.

“Please, honey, don’t argue. They’ve been really energetic all day and I’m hoping if they get the chance to play outside then they’ll calm down.” His mom had her hair pulled up into a messy ponytail and she had deep dark circles under her eyes. Her skin was pale and quite honestly she looked like she was ready to fall off her feet.

Darry felt bad. He knew how hard his mom and dad

worked. They didn’t have a lot of money and they were raising three kids. Not to mention the friends they had over so often. Steve, Two-bit, and Johnny might as well live with them at this point. He also knew it had been really tough for them recebtly. Soda had been sick last week so they had to work more to pay for medicine.

Darry begrudgingly nodded his head in defeat. His mother gave him a thankful smile and shoo’d her youngest two boys forward towards him.

“Thank you, Darry. Just be sure to keep an eye on them please?”

Darry shook his head. He understood why his mom would be worried. She never liked sending them out alone but his dad always assured her that it was fine. They didn’t live in a great area so she wanted to make sure they were safe. “I will.”

Finally, Darry with his two kid brothers in tow marched out of the house and towards the park.

It wasn’t a long walk. It could only be around ten minutes at most. Even so, in that short amount of time he understood why his mom was so desperate to relieve Sodapop and Ponyboy’s energy. He already had a headache from hanging out with them. Granted, it really was mostly Soda. Ponyboy was never bad about being loud. In fact, he had a problem not speaking up. However, he was much more vocal around his friends and family, especially Sodapop. So when you put an overly hyper Soda with Ponyboy, he’ll become much harder to handle.

When they got to the park Darry just wanted to get away from them. He quickly spotted his group of friends from school and turned to his brothers.

“You see that over there?” Darry gestured to the empty playground a little ways away.

“Yeah.” Soda nodded.

“You and Pony go over there and play. I’ll be over here playing football with some friends. Don’t leave the playground, okay? If you need anything just come get me.” The playground was perfect for this. It was far enough away from Darry and his friends that they could play without them interrupting but close enough that he could still see them.

Sodapop smiled and grabbed Ponyboy’s little hand before dragging the small boy away. Darry laughed a little at them before going to greet his buddies.

——————

Ponyboy was almost always stuck to Soda’s side. He looked up to his brother and loved being around him. It annoyed Steve and he always called him a, “tagalong”. Ponyboy didn’t think Steve was all that fun to be around either.

That’s why Pony enjoyed times like these. It was just him and his brother. There was no Steve around to insult and make fun of him. He could just play with his brother in peace.

Ponyboy and Sodapop were currently swinging on the swing set. They were trying to see who could go higher. Obviously, Soda ended up winning. Ponyboy wasn’t much competition. He wasn’t as big as his brother yet so his little legs couldn’t get him as high.

Sodapop laughed at the clear frustration on his face before jumping of his swing. Ponyboy glanced over at his brother as he headed towards him.

“What are you doing, Soda?” He asked.

The older boy just grinned as he went behind him. Before Pony could comprehend what he was doing he was flying upwards.

Ponyboy gripped the chains of the swing tighter and squealed. Sodapop guffawed at his brothers reaction and kept pushing him. Once Pony got out of his shock he grinned. “Higher!”

This kept on for a little while before Soda stopped. Pony looked back at his brother wondering what happened.

“Sorry Pone, I gotta go to the bathroom real quick. Stay here okay? I’ll be right back!” He said as he sprinted off.

Ponyboy just turned back around and kept swinging. The bathrooms weren’t far away and he could still see Darry playing with his friends so he was fine.

Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned, expecting to see Soda. “You’re back already-“

He stopped as he made eye contact with the man in front of him. He didn’t know this man. He was tall and skinny with dark hair. He had brown eyes and was more on the tan side. The man smiled down at Pony before greeting him.

“Hey there kid. I’m sorry to bother you, but could you help me?”

Ponyboy looked up at the man quizzically before he continued.

“I’ve lost my dog. She’s a small white dog with short curly hair. She has a bright red collar on too. I was wondering if you’d seen her?” The man looked hopefully down at him.

Ponyboy felt bad for him. The poor man was missing his dog! Pony loved dogs. He had asked his parents if they could have one but they always told him no.

“I’m sorry, I haven’t seen her.”

The man visibly deflated and Pony felt worse. He hated when people were sad.

“Oh... that’s okay. I’ll just have to keep looking, I’m sure she’s around here somewhere! Say, could you help me? I’m sure with the both of us looking we’ll find her even faster!” The man smiled.

Ponyboy gave him a wary look. He wanted to help but he didn’t know this guy. He looked over to Darry. He didn’t seem to be paying attention. He looked like he was trying to get someone to throw him the ball. Pony turned back to the man who’s eyes hadn’t left him.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not supposed to talk with strangers.”

The man’s smile tightened for a second before he relaxed again. “I understand. What if we weren’t strangers?”

Ponyboy cocked his head in confusion. The man laughed before kneeling down in front of him. He was now eye to eye with Ponyboy and he held out his hand.

“Hi there, my names Jack, what’s your name?”

Ponyboy looked from his hand to Jack’s face before slowly reaching out and placing his hand in his. Jack’s hand easily fit around his tiny one and he gently shook it.

“My names Ponyboy.”

Jack let go of his hand and smiled kindly at him. “What a nice name. Very unique.”

Pony’s eyes lit up at the compliment. People usually made fun of his name or gave him weird looks when he introduced himself.

“Thanks! My dad came up with it! It’s weird but I like it!”

Jack chuckled before speaking again. “Well, now we know eachother, don’t we? Can you help me now? I promise it won’t take long.”

Ponyboy thought about it for a second. He guessed he was right. They weren’t really strangers anymore. Jack actually seemed really nice! He just wanted help finding his dog. His parents were always helping people in need. It was the right thing to do.

Pony looked up at Jack and smiled before hopping off his swing. “Okay! I guess I can help.”

Jack beamed at him. “Great! Thank you so much! I’m sure with your help I’ll find Trixie in no time!” He held out his hand again for Pony to take. Ponyboy placed his small hand in Jack’s once more as they walked off.

“Trixie? Is that your dogs name?”

“Yes! Do you like it? My daughter came up with it.”

Ponyboy and Jack continued walking and chatting while looking for the missing dog. Ponyboy failed to notice when Jack glanced back at the center of the park that they were quickly leaving behind.

——————

Sodapop pushed the door to the local restroom open and glanced around. The park was pretty empty today. There were only two or three other people out here besides Darry’s group. He guessed it was because of the cold. It was nearing winter time so less people were going out when they didn’t have to. However, it was still warm enough for their parents to let them go. They’d probably have to stop soon though.

As Soda headed back to the playground he stopped. He couldn’t see Ponyboy. Quickly he ran over and looked around. He had hoped Pony was just sitting on the slide where he couldn’t see him but upon looking up there he still didn’t see his brother.

Soda, who was growing increasingly worried, looked over to Darry’s group of friends. May be Darry would know where he went. Soda sprinted over to them and flagged Darry down by waving his arms. Everyone stopped to look at him. Darry’s face visibly flushed from the attention but he turned to look at Soda. “What do you want?” He scowled.

Sodapop couldn’t care less about embarrassing Darry right now. “Where did Ponyboy go?” He questioned.

Darry’s face visibly paled. “What do you mean? I thought he was with you?”

“I went to the bathroom. I told him to stay there but when I got back he was gone. I figured you had seen where he went. Mom told you to watch us!”

Darry’s eyes flicked around the parked. He didn’t see his youngest brother anywhere. He could feel the dread pooling in his stomach.

“Let’s go get mom.”

——————

The next few weeks were madness for the Curtis family. A missing person’s report had been filed and with no turn up of any possible leads the people of Tulsa got a search party together. People went out for hours on end looking for five year old Ponyboy Michael Curtis but nothing came up.

There were about five or six search parties all together before people started giving up. It became a general consensus that the poor boy had probably been kidnapped and murdered.

The police did everything they could but they couldn’t even find evidence of a kidnapping other than the boy disappearing. It seemed he had just vanished. They interviewed people in the park that day. All claimed to not notice anything strange. They never saw what happened to the boy.

The Curtis family was grief stricken.

Katie Curtis was heart broken. She wanted her baby boy back. She wanted to hold him again. She wanted to see those big green eyes again and comfort him when he had a bad dream. It was never easy being a mother of three with their income but she had always pushed herself because she loved her husband and her children. She wouldn’t have changed anything for the world. She didn’t want to be the mother of just two. She wanted her third child back. Her youngest. Her baby. She’d never give up hope that he was out there somewhere. He would find her again, she knew he would.

Darrel Curtis Sr. was trying to stay strong. His child was gone. His wife and children were heartbroken and terrified. They all wanted him back. They all wanted answers as to where he went and if he was okay. He wanted to cry but he didn’t. He had to be strong. His wife and remaining children needed him now more than ever.

The two Curtis brothers were trying not to blame themselves. No matter how many times their parents told them it wasn’t their fault they didn’t believe it. They even told eachother. Sodapop didn’t blame Darry and Darry insisted Sodapop had no reason to blame himself either. They both just really wanted their brother back. It was too quiet in the house without him. Their family didn’t feel whole. They hoped he would turn up soon. They needed him and they knew that wherever he was he needed them too.

It would remain a mystery what happened to Ponyboy Curtis that cold day in 1976. With no leads to go off of the police had to close the case. The Curtis’ never gave up hope though. Until they saw the body of their missing little boy, they’d never give up hope that he could still be alive and out there. They hoped that one day, he would come home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If there is any grammar mistakes in this please forgive me. I checked and think it looks fine but it’s late so I might have kissed something. This is something I’ve been thinking about ever since I rewatched the first season Stranger Things last night and decided to write this. Since we’re in quarantine now I might as well do something with my spare time.
> 
> Anyways, any and all constructive criticism is welcome! I hope you enjoyed this and it’s almost 2 am so I’m going to go to bed. Baiii
> 
> -Merce


	2. The Vanishing of Will Byers

Nine had no idea how long they’d been running for. The only thing he knew was that if they were caught they were going to be in trouble. He honestly wasn’t too sure what would happen. Part of him wanted to hope they wouldn’t be killed, but if they were it wouldn’t surprise him too much. Hopefully they would just get locked in the room again. He didn’t want that but it was better than death.

The room was tiny. It had copper colored walls with a hard tile flooring. There were no lights in the ceiling either, if you were in there the only light you would get came from the cracks in the door. There was hardly any room to stretch and you couldn’t sleep properly on the hard floor. You had to curl up into a ball just to lay down without your head and feet hitting the walls. It was also freezing so being thrown in there in only a thin gown was torture.

Nine hated that room. The worst thing about it wasn’t even how uncomfortable it was. The worst thing about the room had nothing to do with physical discomfort. The real reason the room was so bad was because of the quiet. You can only be left in complete silence for so long before your mind goes haywire. You start thinking you hear or see things that aren’t there. Then they leave you there for who knows how long, with only the occasional water bottle being tossed in. Maybe a sandwich if you were in there long enough.

He remembered the first few times he’d been put in there. He never knew how long he was in there but he can remember begging to be let out for what had to be hours, if not longer.

That’s why Nine always tried to do what he was told. He didn’t want to be punished. The last thing he’d ever want is to dissapoint Papa, even though it seemed like that’s what he did most of the time. Nine couldn’t help it though! He really did try, he just wasn’t always strong enough. Maybe he was physically, but not mentally.

Sometimes Papa asked him to hurt animals... Nine couldn’t do that. It felt wrong and even Papa’s disapproving face didn’t do a whole lot to change his mind.

Papa used to say he was too sensitive. Nine guessed that he was right. He could remember the few times where he had ignored the guilt he felt and just did as Papa asked. He’d always cried afterwards.

Nine shook his head. He didn’t want to think about them right now. If everything went well then he would never have to deal with them again but in order for everything to go well he needed to be ready for anything.

Nine glanced over at the girl next to him. Her name was Eleven and they had known each other for as long as he could remember. Her hair was shaved off, just like his, and Nine could still see the remnants of blood on her nose from earlier. She looked a little pale but Nine didn’t know if that was because of her using her powers or from the knowledge of what they’d just done. He knew she was probably in even worse shape than he was. Nine’s powers weren’t super useful in their escape. He couldn’t do the same things she could. Her powers were good for most combat situations, and while Nine could still help his weren’t always the best for fighting.

He was still proud of what he could do, though. His powers may not be good for every fight but they were still very useful. Papa had told them both they were, ‘special’, and should use their powers to do good. Nine always thought that was weird. He said to use them for good yet the things he wanted them to do didn’t feel right.

Nine and Eleven kept running. They didn’t want to chance getting caught by stopping but they also didn’t know where they could go. Their escape wasn’t planned. Besides, even if it was they had never been outside before. How were they supposed to know what to do?

After a while they both turned their heads to look behind them. The bad men’s lights had faded so much that they could no longer see them. Nine and Eleven glanced at eachother before they both slowed to a stop next to a tree.

The pair sat down with their backs to the trunk and tried to catch their breath. They had run so far away from the lab that it was no longer visible to them. Nine glanced around. It seemed like it was just the woods for miles! He could just hope they could last till daytime without being found. Then may be it will be easier to find something. He assumed there had to be people nearby somewhere. If there wasn’t then they were screwed! He doubted they could find anyone to help them but they had to get food and if there were people then there would be food. If there wasn’t people though... well, Nine would deal with that problem if it arises.

Nine’s thoughts were cut off by the feeling of something rolling down his lower right arm. Nine glanced at it and saw that he had a small vertical cut. It wasn’t deep enough to do any real damage but it did draw quite a bit of blood. He must have been cut while crawling through the pipe they used to get out of the lab. He knew that was most likely the case since some of Eleven’s gown had been torn while in there. Nine sighed and debated on what to do. He could heal it easily but he had to get rid of the blood first.

Nine lifted his leg and grabbed the bottom of his gray gown. He ripped off a small piece of the fabric and did his best to clean it off. Once he got all the excess blood off it he set the fabric down and held his hand gently over the cut. He ignored the feeling of Eleven’s eyes on him as he concentrated. Doing this was practically second nature to him at this point but he didn’t want to risk using more than he needed to. Especially not right now. He needed to save as much energy as possible to fight in case they were found.

He closed his eyes as he felt the energy pouring out from his palm and into the cut. It was a calming, albeit odd, sensation. He opened his eyes in time to catch the last glow of green seep into the spot the scratch had been. Now, instead of the small wound, there was just his skin.

He turned towards Eleven who still had her eyes locked on him. She tilted her head to the side looked questioningly at him in a silent, ‘Are you okay?’.

They had both gotten good at having conversations with just their facial expressions over the years. It wasn’t that they couldn’t talk. They may not have a big vocabulary but they know enough to have a basic conversation. It was just that neither of them were big talkers to begin with. Not to mention they couldn’t always say what they wanted to in front of Papa. So, instead they learned to speak without speaking.

Nine gave her a small nod before looking at her the same way. She bobbed her head at him and gestured to her arms to show that she wasn’t hurt.

They sat there for a little longer just waiting to see or hear someone. When Nine looked over at Eleven he could see how exhausted she was. Nine tapped her shoulder to get her attention. When she turned to him he patted the space next to him.

“Bed.” He whispered.

Eleven shook her head. Of course she would be stubborn. He knew she was scared they’d get caught but it was important they stayed in as good of shape as possible. If they fought while tired then they’d be less likely to win.

“I’ll watch. You can sleep.” He insisted.

She eyed him skeptically before giving in. He kept look out as she layer down next to him. He didn’t know how long it would be till the sun came out but he prayed they wouldn’t be found before then.

——————

Nine woke Eleven up as the sun started to rise about 2 hours later. Thankfully, the night was peaceful besides a small scare. Nine had heard rustling from somewhere near them just a few minutes after Eleven had went to bed. He couldn’t see what was causing the noise and had almost woken Eleven up before he found out what was making the noise. A small brown animal raced out of the leaves and down the trunk of a tree just a few yards away from them.

The animal had a large bushy tail, a white underbelly, and two small black eyes. He made eye contact with it before it chirped at him and ran up back up the trunk of the nearby tree.

Nine was glad he hadn’t woken Eleven up for that. He wondered what it was. Nine had seen a few animals before but never whatever that was. It seemed harmless though so he didn’t think about it too much.

The duo looked around now that they could see clearly. They still couldn’t see any buildings so they decided to just continue in the opposite direction of the lab.

They didn’t walk for long before they saw something. To their right they could see smoke rising into the air. They decided to go look and see what it was. This could mean they’re finally nearing a place with people!

It was about a five minute walk before they spotted what the smoke was coming from. It was a small white building with a dark gray roof. There was a car parked in front of it so there had to be someone there.

They slowly stepped towards the place to try and get a closer look. The leaves crunched softly beneath their bare feet as walked. Nine hoped that whoever was here wouldn’t spot them. The last thing they needed was more trouble. Hopefully they would be able to find food and then follow the road in front of the building. That should lead them somewhere useful.

Suddenly, the back door to the small place opened and a man walked out. He was heavy-set with a beard, a mustache, and a bald head. He had on a long sleeve dirty white shirt and jeans. Wrapped around his jeans was a long white cloth that covered him in the front from his hips to his knees. Nine wondered what that was for.

The man carried a black bag over to two shiny cans. He lifted the top off of one of them and threw the bag inside. He sat the top back on before turning around and going back inside.

Eleven and Nine stared intently at the door. It was definitely a risk to go inside but they didn’t have much of a choice. They couldn’t just stay in the forest forever.

Nine pursed his lips as he reluctantly began walking towards the building. He could hear Eleven follow after him and slowed down to match her pace.

When they finally got to the door Nine pressed his ear to it. He could hear faint music from somewhere inside but he didn't think there was anybody directly on the other side. If there was somebody there then they were being oddly quiet.

Nine peered over at his friend. He gestured at the door with his head and looked at her inquisitively.

Eleven studied the door for a second before she gripped the handle. She carefully twisted it and pushed the door open. Once it was wide enough to fit her head inside she stopped and scanned the room. Nine tried to peek inside from his spot behind her. He didn’t see anyone but they knew that man had to be in there somewhere.

Eleven turned back to look at him before heading in. Nine quickly followed. He didn’t close the door all the way as they walked away. It was probably better for it to be left like that so they could escape quicker if they needed to.

The room wasn’t lit very well but they could still see fine. It was covered wall to wall with shelves stacked with different foods. Nine felt the stress leave his shoulders. There goes one problem.

On the other side of the room was another door. The duo wasted no time walking over to it. The door had been left open and gave them a view into the main room of the building. As they got there they could see tables set with people sitting down around some of them. Just then the man from earlier walked towards a table where two men were sitting with something in his hand.

“Alright, and one more! There ya go.”

“Hey Ben, what you think about that uh... Arthur kid?” One of the men at the table asked. He had white hair that was covered by a green cap and a matching beard.

“Hey, I don’t know. I don’t know.”

“I don’t know, man. Thirty seven points per game average!”

“Thirty seven now, but...”

Nine and Eleven turned away from the talking men and went through the two big doors next to them. Inside was a room that seemed to be filled with big silver appliances. Nine had no idea what any of this stuff did. One of the walls had a big rectangular gap in it. When you looked through it you could see the main room.

He continued examining everything until Eleven tugged on his sleeve. He turned to look at her and she pointed at a small basket with paper in it that had been left. They walked over to it and checked inside.

Nine didn’t know exactly what was in the basket. It was thin and yellow, but one thing was for sure. It smelled like food.

The two tentatively grabbed a piece of the mystery food and took a bite. Whatever it was, it was good. They glanced back up at the man from earlier and made sure he wasn’t paying attention before they started shoving handfuls in their mouths.

Nine hadn’t realized how hungry he was until he actually started eating. He felt like he hadn’t eaten in days. He could tell Eleven felt the same by how fast she was eating.

“Hey!”

Nine’s head shot up. Staring at them from the other room was the man from earlier and he looked mad. The other people there all gaped as they realized what was happening.

“Come here!”

Nine quickly grabbed the basket with one hand and Eleven’s hand with the other. He raced back the way they came and towards the back door with Eleven right behind him.

Just as they were about to escape the man grabbed Eleven by the arm and pulled her back. This caused Nine to also get yanked back close enough for the man to grab him too.

He turned them to face him and held them tight so they couldn’t run away.

“You think you can steal from me, boys?” He raged.

The man’s face softened and he stopped talking and looked the two kids up and down.

“What in the hell?”

——————

Nine and Eleven sat at one of the tables in the big room from earlier. Everyone else that had been there left. Now it was just them and the man. He was in the ‘kitchen’, as he called it, making us food.

Nine was surprised that he started being nice to them after he had caught them stealing. He didn’t really understand why the man would do that but he also wanted the food so he didn’t ask.

When the man came back out he gave us some food. It was a piece of brown meat in between some weird type of bread. Apparently they were called burgers. Honestly, Nine didn’t care what they were called. As long as he got to eat he was happy.

“Geez, your parents forget to feed you?” The man asked them as they dug in. He had sat across from them after he’d given them their food.

“Is that why you ran away? They, uh... They hurt you?” He asked. Nine studied the man in front of them as he ate. He didn’t like that he was asking so many questions, especially since he couldn’t really answer them.

“You went to the hospital, you got scared, you ran off, you wound up here. Is that it?” The man wondered. Nine desperately hoped this guy would just stop talking. Instead of answering he chose to pick at the bottom of the new shirt he was given.

The shirt was a bright yellow and had a picture of a burger with a flag on it. Under the picture it read Benny’s Burgers. Eleven had on the same thing. Nine briefly wondered why this guy had two of the same shirt but he brushed it off as nothing. In the lab they were given these gray gowns with darker gray spots. That was all they were allowed to wear. It was probably something like that, Nine figured. Although, the gowns they were given never had any colors or pictures on them so it felt weird to be wearing something so bright.

The man sighed and leaned forward in his chair.

“All right.” He reaches towards them and grabbed the burgers out of their hands. He sat them back in the small baskets they came in and scooted them back towards him. Eleven and Nine’s eyes were now glued to him.

“I’ll give you this back, all right? And you can have as much as you want. All right? Maybe even some ice cream but you gotta answer a few of my questions first, all right?” The man demanded. “We got a deal?” He asked.

Nine could tell he was getting upset at not getting a response but he didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t tell him about the bad men. Who knows what they’d do if they found out.

“All right, let’s start with the easy stuff, all right? Here,” The man held out his hand towards Eleven. “my names Benny. Benny Hammond.”

Eleven stared at his hand before glancing up at him. Benny seemed to wait for some sort of reaction from her and when he didn’t get it he turned to Nine. He moved his hand away from Eleven and reached out towards him instead.

Nine’s eyes flicked between Benny and his outstretched hand, not quite sure what the man wanted. Benny let out a breath and reached for him.

“It’s like this.” He grabbed Nine’s wrist and instinctively Nine tried to pull back.

“Hey, I got you. Don’t worry, it’s okay.” Benny reassured.

Nine cautiously let Benny grasp his hand. Once he calmed down Benny shook his hand up and down.

“Nice to meet you, yeah? And you are?”

Nine didn’t respond. Benny, who was clearly getting a little frustrated, let go of his hand. However, before Nine could stop him he grabbed his other hand and turned it over so he could see his wrist.

On Nine’s wrist was a small black tattoo that read 009. The bad men had given it to him and he had it for as long as he could remember. That’s where he got his name from.

“Nine?” Benny’s eyes squinted in confusion as Nine jerked his hand away.

“What does that mean?” He interrogated. Nine refused to say anything. Benny turned back towards Eleven who also had pulled her hands away from the table.

“What’s it mean?” He asked again.

“No.” She whispered. Nine’s eyes shot to her. He didn’t think it was a good idea to talk to this man at all. He just wanted to get food and go. The longer they stuck around the more likely Papa would find them.

“Well, I’ll be damned. She speaks. No? No what?” He encouraged. Neither Nine or Eleven spoke.

Benny sighed and stood up, grabbing the baskets of food.

“Alright, I guess no more food then.” Just as he was about to walk away, Nine spoke.

“Nine.” He called out. Nine knew this wasn’t the best idea but they needed food. He hoped that if he told Benny his name then may be he would give it to them. Hopefully he wouldn’t ask anymore questions either. Then they could sneak away once they were finished.

Benny turned back to look at him.

“Yeah, what’s it mean?”

Nine tapped on himself. “Nine.” He repeated.

Benny’s mouth closed as he processed the information. Then he turned to Eleven.

“And you?”

Eleven glanced at Nine and he nodded. She slowly shifted her gaze back towards Benny and held up her wrist to where he could see it.

“Eleven?” He questioned. The girl nodded. He was quiet for a minute as he stared at the two. He seemed to contemplate what to do before he sat the baskets back down.

“All right, then. Here you go.”

Nine and Eleven wasted no time, immediately grabbing the burgers. Benny chuckled as he watched them.

“Take it easy, take it easy.”

——————

Benny went back to the kitchen after a little bit. Nine didn’t know what he was doing and in the moment he didn’t care. He was finally getting to eat and that was all that mattered to him.

Nine looked up as he heard a scratching noise. Just a few feet away from where the two were devouring their food was a fan. It was long and silver and the top of it moved from side to side as the fan blades spun.

Nine, who was getting irritated by the scratching noise, looked at Eleven. She seemed to be ahead of him though, as she was already staring at the fan. She tilted her head down and narrowed her eyes as she gazed at it. The fan suddenly started rattling and the noise increased until it turned to them. The second it faced them the blades halted and the sound stopped.

Nine could feel the air stop flowing and gave Eleven a small grin in thanks. She returned the favor and the two went back to peacefully eating their meals.

——————

Nine and Eleven were now back in the kitchen and sitting on one of the counters in the room. Benny, who was washing some plates, had given them a cold treat that he called ‘ice cream’. He gave Eleven the strawberry one and him the chocolate one.

Nine was liking all the new foods he was getting to try. Back at the lab it was always bologna sandwiches and water. He didn’t think he’d ever want to eat bologna again if he could have all this stuff instead.

“You like that ice cream, huh?” Benny spoke up. The pair glanced up at him.

“Smile looks good on you.” Nine’s face morphed into confusion. He looked at Eleven but she looked just as clueless.

“You know, smile?” Benny looked between them before ‘smiling’ as a demonstration.

Nine finally understood what he meant and smiled back at him. Benny just laughed and turned away from them.

All of the sudden, there was a knock at the door. All eyes went to the door. Nine and Eleven looked back towards Benny who eyed them nervously.

“All right, just sit tight. Whoever it is, I’ll tell them to go away real quick, all right?” Benny reasoned as he took the cloth off his shoulder and wiped his hands on it. He sat it down next to the sink then started making his way towards the door, Eleven and Nine’s eyes never leaving him.

The knocking on the door started again before he could reach it.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah...” he mumbled.

Nine tried to listen in on the conversation as Benny opened the door.

“Hey, can I help you?”

“Hi, you must be Benny Hammond.” Standing outside the door was a woman. She had dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. She looked to be somewhere around Benny’s age.

Nine didn’t like this woman. There was something off about her. He tried not to panic as he tensed up, preparing for the worst.

“Yeah, I’m afraid I am. I’m afraid we’re closed for the evening too, so try tomorrow morning.” Benny was about to shut the door when the woman cut him off.

“Connie Frazier. Social Services.”

“Ah, social services. My apologies, I didn’t expect you so soon. That’s a heck of a drive.”

Social services? Nine had never heard of that before.

“Not too bad this time of night.”

“Yeah, hey listen. I haven’t told them you were coming yet. I didn’t want them running off again, they’re a tad skittish.”

“Children I work with usually are.” She smiled.

“Right, right.”

“So, where are they?”

“Right, they're in the kitchen. Come on up, I’ll introduce you.” Benny opened the door and stepped out of the way so Connie could enter. Benny took the lead again as he started leading her back.

“Thank you.”

“Sorry, again, for trying to turn you away there.”

“It’s fine.”

“You know, it’s funny, your voice sounds different on the-“

Nine watched as the mysterious woman pulled out a gun from her purse. The second Benny turned around she shot him, stopping him from finishing his sentence.

Nine gasped as Benny’s body dropped to the floor with a hard thud. He quickly turned to Eleven and grabbed her hand as they both made a dash for the exit. He could hear dishes fall and shatter as they did so. They burst through the kitchen door and right as they got into the room with the back door, two armed men came through. They were blocking their only exit.

With no choice but to fight back, Eleven took on one man and Nine took the other. Nine reacted on instinct, glaring at the man on the right as he took control of him. He could see the man’s eyes glaze over as he did so and he forced the man to turn his gun back on himself. Nine closed his eyes when he heard the gun shot and the sound of a neck snapping. He opened them again, eyes avoiding the ground where the two men lay, and ran out the door into the night with Eleven right on his tail.

——————

They had been running for who knows how long now. Nine hadn’t really been paying attention, more focused on trying to escape than anything.

He felt awful about what happened to Benny. Nine may not have trusted him at first but he seemed nice. He treated them better than any of the other adults he’d ever known. He wished he could’ve reacted in time to stop that woman, Connie, from killing him but it was too late. She shot him in the head and Nine couldn’t exactly bring back the dead.

To make matters worse, it had started raining after they left. Now they were scared and freezing. The shirts they had on now may be better than the gowns from before but they still weren’t very helpful.

Nine didn’t know how long it would be until they were found again. His head whipped around desperately as he tried to find a safe space in the dark. They needed to find a place to hide and fast.

Unfortunately, Nine was so focused on trying to find shelter that he didn’t notice the voices up ahead.

So when he and Eleven suddenly went from running through the forest to staring into the face of three boys shining lights in their eyes, you could say he was a little more than just caught off guard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A quick question to anyone reading this, I was wondering if anyone had an opinion on when they wanted the gang to come in.
> 
> In order to line up with the show the most they would need to come in during the time period of season 2 but if I change a few things they could come in during season 1, if that’s what people wanted.
> 
> I’m conflicted on which one to do so I figured I’d see if anyone else had thoughts on it.
> 
> Other than that, I want to thank everyone who’s given me feedback, I love seeing what people have to say about this. It’s my first time actually publishing something so I like knowing if there’s things I could improve on. I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter! I finally decided on Nine’s powers and was excited to have him use some of them. Until next time, baiii!
> 
> -Merce
> 
> (P.S. writing down the dialogue for these scenes made me realize just how many times Benny says, “All right”.)


	3. The Weirdos on Maple Street

The next hour was a blur. They had learned the names of the three boys that found them, Mike, Lucas, and Dustin.

They all seemed to be around Nine and Eleven's age but they all looked different.

Mike was a very fair skinned kid with brown eyes and dark black hair. It was sticking out in different places and you could still see drops of rain throughout it. He had a lanky build and wore a dark blue sweater over a white button up shirt.

Then there was Lucas. Nine may not have known these boys for very long but he could say with certainty that Lucas was practically the opposite of Mike, based on their personality and their looks. Their only common feature seeming to be their eye and hair color. Lucas had dark skin with short black hair and brown eyes. He wore a white T-shirt with red around the collar and jeans. On top of that was a thick tan jacket, something all the boys had on when they found them.

Finally, there was Dustin. If Mike and Lucas were opposites, he was the middle ground. Dustin had tan skin with blue eyes and curly light brown hair. Dustin also seemed to be missing some teeth. Nine wondered why but wasn't really curious enough to ask. He had on a thin dark green hoodie and jeans. He also had on a dark brown jacket and had on a hat over his unruly hair. It was white in the front, blue in the back, and had a red brim.

Mike had been the nicest to them so far. He had given Eleven his jacket and taken them back to his house. Nine was definitely more scared now than ever. He knew that Papa was looking for them and while he appreciated what these boys had done for them he knew this could get them killed. Nine had to watch as poor Benny got shot because of them and he didn't want to see anyone else die the same way.

Nine didn't think Lucas liked them very much. He had expressed to Mike that taking them back to his house wasn't a good idea and had been looking at them weirdly the entire time. Nine wasn't really mad, he could understand why Lucas would be cautious and honestly it wasn't a good idea to bring them back. They were putting themselves in danger. The only reason Nine hadn't tried to run was because they had nowhere else to go. He knew they couldn't stay in that forest forever. There was only so many places to hide. They needed to get as far away as possible, somewhere Papa could never find them. That's why when Mike had Eleven get on the back of his 'bike' and had Nine do the same to Dustin, he didn't protest.

Now Nine sat in Mike's basement with Eleven by his side and the trio of boys standing in front of them. Nine flinched as he heard the crack of thunder. It still hadn't stopped raining. He looked over at Eleven. She still had Mike's coat wrapped around her shoulders but it didn't do much considering she was soaked. Nine's heart ached at how scared she looked even though he knew he wasn't doing any better. He wished he could do more for her but he couldn't even take care of himself. This was their first time leaving the building they'd grew up in and they hadn't been taught about the outside world. How could he protect her from something he didn't understand?

"Is there a number we can call? For your parents?" Nine looked back at Mike who looked expectantly at them.

"Where's your hair? Do you two have cancer?" Dustin wondered aloud.

"Did you run away?"

"Are you in some kind of trouble?"

"Is that blood?" Nine recoiled as Lucas reached towards his nose. Any time they used their powers their nose would bleed. What he did at Benny's must've caused it. Nine didn't know why it had that affect but it had been happening for so long that he just got used to it. That's probably why he didn't realize it was bleeding until Lucas had pointed it out. To be fair, Nine had bigger issues on his mind than a nose bleed.

Mike smacked Lucas' hand away from Nine's face.

"Stop it! You're freaking them out!" Mike scolded.

"They're freaking me out!" Lucas hollered back, throwing his hands up.

Dustin cut the two off. "I bet they're deaf!"

Nine eyed the boy warily as he turned towards them. His hands shot out as he clapped once.

The duo on the couch flinched at the unexpected gesture. Dustin turned back to the others.

"Not deaf." He shrugged.

"All right, that's enough, all right? They're just scared and cold." Mike defended. He turned away from the group and went to the other side of the room. Nine tried to ignore Lucas and Dustin's eyes on them in favor of seeing what Mike was up to. He was rummaging through a basket filled with clothes.

Nine and Eleven shook as a particularly loud clap of thunder sounded. Nine wished it would stop raining already. He had never liked the noise it made. Back at the lab it was always muffled to the point he normally couldn't hear it. Here it was much louder and scarier.

Nine looked back up as a hand held out two outfits towards them.

"Here, these are clean, okay?" Mike explained as Nine examined the bundle. Well, if one good thing came from following them back here it was that he finally got a good shirt and pants.

Nine stood up and grabbed the hem of his soaked shirt. He started to take it off but stopped as the other three shouted out protests.

"No! No! No!" Mike held his hands out, grabbing Nine's wrists to stop him from pulling it up any further. Nine made a confused face as he looked between the three. Lucas and Dustin had turned away and put their hands over their eyes.

"See? Over there?" Mike pointed to a small dimly lit room near where he had gotten the clothes from the basket. "That's the bathroom. Privacy. Get it?"

Nine didn't. Back at the lab he rarely had to change clothes. The only time he did was when he had to for something Papa wanted him to do. Whenever that happened he normally was told to just do it right there. They didn't bother giving him a room to do it by himself.

He wasn't in the lab anymore, though. Nine just had to get used to the way things were out here. He didn't expect it to be this different.

Nine nodded and made his way towards the small room. It was very bare compared to everything else. As he looked around the room he heard the door creak. He whipped around to see Mike closing the door. Nine hastily grabbed it.

"You don't want it closed?" He questioned.

Nine shook his head.

"Okay, well, um... how about we just keep the door just like this. Is that better?" He shut the door most of the way but left a small crack open. It was enough to where the room was a little brighter and Nine nodded in approval.

Nine didn't waste more time looking around the room. He didn't like leaving Eleven out there with them. They didn't seem like they'd do anything bad but they were definitely loud and were asking way too many questions. Nine hoped that wouldn't happen with every person they met.

He could hear them talking outside but tried to tune them out. Instead he focused on changing his clothes. He had been given a black short sleeved T-shirt and black sweatpants. Nine was sure that this was the most comfortable thing he'd ever worn.

Nine walked out once he was done and Eleven took his place. He sat back down on the couch as Mike, Lucas, and Dustin kept talking. They were whispering and looking at him but he tried to ignore them. He hoped Eleven wouldn't take long. Nine couldn't stand the constant voices. He'd gotten used to the quiet over the years so he wasn't prepared for how loud the outside was.

Eleven finally came back out after a few minutes. She had on a long sleeve navy blue shirt and light gray pants. Now that the two were both done changing, Mike started setting up a fort. He said they could sleep there for the night.

Lucas and Dustin started gathering up their stuff as he did so. Nine could see them stop and stare for a second as they were walking up the stairs. He knew they were talking but he couldn't hear what they were saying.

Mike passed them both a few more blankets. He had already spread some out on the floor under them as a cushion. These would be used for covers or pillows. Then there was the sheets, towels, and other blankets that had been used to actually make the fort around them. Why he owned so many covers? Nine would never know.

"Hey, um, I never asked your names." Mike pointed out.

Nine looked away. What was it with people here and constantly asking him questions?

Nine looked back though as Eleven started pulling back her sleeve. Nine watched in shock as she showed him her tattoo. This was not a good idea. The last time they gave information to someone they just met he got shot! Nine didn't want a repeat of those mistakes but the damage had already been done. You don't exactly forget a kid with a number for a name.

Nine knew it wasn't normal. None of the adults at the lab had names like that. Just him and Eleven. He could have written that off as a coincidence but he knew it wasn't. Not to mention the way Benny had reacted to their names gave it away. It was unusual and not something you just brush off. Especially not when it was inked into their skin.

"Is that real?" Mike's eyes widened as he got excited. He reached forward to touch it but Eleven yanked her hand back. Mike seemed to get the message and pulled away.

"Sorry, I've just... never seen a kid with a tattoo before." He explained. "What's it mean? Eleven?"

"Eleven." She repeated as she pointed to herself.

"Oh, so you can speak! So, that's your name? Eleven?" He frowned. Eleven nodded.

"Eleven. Okay... what about you?" Mike turned to him. Nine sighed internally as he knew there was no use lying now.

"Nine." He answered.

"Eleven and Nine, got it. Well, my names Mike, short for Michael. Hey, maybe we can call you El? Short for Eleven." Mike suggested.

Eleven, now dubbed El, nodded her head in agreement.

"Um, well, okay. Night El, night Nine." Mike gave them a small smile as he stood up.

El peeked out the fort and looked up at him one last time. "Night Mike." She said softly.

Mike flipped the top blanket down so that it covered the entrance to the fort.

Nine watched as the light from the room was flicked off and listened to Mike's footsteps as he went upstairs. He flinched at the loud bang of the door shutting and held the covers tight to his chest.

He ignored the loud rumble of lightning in favor of shutting his eyes and trying to sleep. He was exhausted after everything that had happened today. Nine knew it would only get harder as time went on. He could only hope they could get as far away from here as possible so that Papa wouldn't be able to find them. He didn't care where it was as long as it was far enough away that they didn't have to live in fear.

Nine's eyes opened at the sound of sniffles. While making as little noise as possible, Nine turned towards Eleven. He was in the back of the fort while she was in front of the opening. Her back was turned towards him but he knew it was her. Who else would it be? They were the only two down here after all.

Nine knew she was probably just as scared and overwhelmed as he was. He frowned at the thought and scooted closer to her. He doubted she would want to talk about it so he didn't say anything. He decided that the best option was just to try comfort her.

Nine didn't know a whole lot about how to comfort someone though. Back at the lab they didn't really teach about how to deal with your or other people's feelings. He used to be an emotional kid but over time he lost most of that trait. He learned that crying never changed anything so he didn't want to waste his energy on it. Still, that didn't mean he was completely clueless. It was a rare occasion but sometimes, when Nine got really upset, Papa would give him a hug.

Now, Nine wasn't too keen on touch. He wasn't touched a lot and he liked it that way. However, Papa and Eleven were the only exceptions. They were the only two people Nine had ever been close to. Papa was their father figure and they were like siblings. Now that they'd run away from Papa, she was all Nine had left. So, as much as he may not like it, if it comforted her then he would do it.

Nine slowly shifted so he was laying completely on his right side. As he did so he hesitantly layed his left arm over El. He could feel her tense up a bit at the unexpected contact but she made no move to push his arm away.

Nine stayed like that as he silently held the crying girl, occasionally giving her arms a comforting pat. He hoped this was helping. He had no other ideas.

Luckily, it seemed to work as Eleven's quiet sniffles died down after a while and were replaced by small snores. Nine was happy to have been able to help, even if it was something small.

Nine sighed as he stuffed his face into the blankets underneath him. He'd been awake for far too long. His eyelids felt heavy and his legs ached from all the running they'd done. He wanted to be hopeful and say they wouldn't have to keep doing that for long but he knew that that probably wasn't true.

Nine eventually closed his eyes as he let his fatigue take over and felt himself drift off into unconscious.

——————

Nine listened to the static as El played with the device she'd found. It was a big rectangular box. It was all black and it had multiple buttons and knobs on it. Nine didn't know what it was for but it looked cool. He hadn't seen anything like it before.

Mike had come downstairs earlier and woke them up. He told them that he would come back down with food in a little bit. Apparently he had to eat breakfast with his family first.

It had been a while and he hadn't come back yet. Nine could hear voices talking upstairs but he couldn't understand what they were saying. Nine decided to focus on looking around instead. He didn't leave the fort but was peeking through the blankets. They had been here for an entire night and Nine was still curious about everything. The only thing he had learned from running away is that the outside world is a lot different from how he imagined it. Nine just didn't know if that was a good thing.

Nine looked up at the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. He listened as Mike walked over to the fort and flipped the blanket covering the opening up.

Mike looked inside at them and his eyes immediately caught El.

"Hey, you found my supercomm. Pretty cool, huh?" Mike smiled. "I talk to my friends with it. Mostly Lucas 'cause he lives so close. Signals pretty weak." He shrugged.

Nine wondered how that worked. He knew Eleven could find and sometimes speak to people with her powers but he didn't know that there was technology that could do the same thing.

Nine's eyes followed Mike's hand as the raven haired boy started rummaging through his jacket pocket. He had gotten back the jacket he'd given to Eleven the day prior but otherwise had changed his clothes. Now he wore a red sweater with a white collar and a horizontal white and blue stripe across his chest.

Mike finally grabbed ahold of whatever was in his pocket and pulled it out. In his hand was two circular objects of a dull yellow color.. Nine eyed them curiously as he noticed that they also had holes all over the top of it.

"I got you both breakfast." He held out the strange objects to each of them and Nine took one. Nine gazed skeptically at the food but took a bite nonetheless. It wasn't Nine's favorite thing but it was good. Apparently they were called _Eggos_. Eleven seemed to really like them.

“So listen,” Mike spoke up, grabbing their attention. "This is gonna sound a little weird, but I just need you both to go out there.”

Mike pointed to the door on the side of the room. It led outside where you could take a staircase up to the very back of the house. That's how Mike, Lucas, and Dustin had snuck them inside the house the day before.

"Then go to the front door and ring the doorbell. My mom will answer and you'll tell her that you're lost and that you need help but whatever you do, you can't tell her about last night or that you know me. Understand?" He smiled as he waited for their response. Mike's eyes flickered between Nine and Eleven as they both stared blankly at him. Nine stopped eating his _Eggo_ , instead just holding it in front of him as he processed the other boy's words.

Mike made eye contact with Nine as he continued.

"Really, it's no big deal. We'll just pretend to meet each other again." He shrugged. "And my mom, she'll know who to call."

Nine's jaw tightened as the reality of what Mike was asking them to do set in. He knew they couldn't do that. Mike had been nice to them, he provided them with food and shelter for the night and hadn't told anyone they were there. Nine couldn't knowingly put him, his family, and his friends in danger after that. Not to mention that it would also put himself and El in danger of getting captured again.

Nine didn't want to cause trouble but he knew he couldn't do what Mike was telling him to.

"No."

Mike's face dropped. He looked shocked that Nine wasn't willing to do it.

"No?" he questioned.

"No." Nine shook his head. He wouldn't do it. Mike, who was clearly confused by his defiance, kept grilling them.

"No... you don't want my mom to get help?"

Nine shook his head again. This seemed to really set off the alarm bells in the raven haired boy's mind as he furrowed his brows at the answer.

"You're in trouble, aren't you?" He looked between the two of them, probably hoping for them to say no. Neither of them did. They just gazed back at him.

"Who... Who are you in trouble with?"

This time it was Eleven who answered. Her eyes stayed glued to the ground in front of her as she whispered.

"Bad."

"Bad? Bad people?"

Eleven nodded.

"They want to hurt you? The bad people?" Nine tried to ignore the small tremor in Mike's voice as he spoke. He felt bad that he'd gotten involved in all this just by helping them. Nine briefly wondered if maybe things would be better if they had just stayed at the lab. It seemed like now that they left they were just hurting others. Nine knew it was useless to even think about things like that. It didn't matter now. They chose to leave the lab and now they had to face the consequences of their actions, whether they liked it or not.

Nine just hoped that if they warned Mike ahead of time this time, maybe he wouldn't suffer the same fate as Benny.

Eleven held up her hand and stuck her index and middle finger out and her thumb up in the shape of a gun. Shen then moved her hand up and pointed it right at the side of her head.

Nine understood what she was doing and copied her motions but pointed to himself instead. He knew Mike got the message by the way his eyes widened. Nine glanced over at Eleven. She met his eyes and he could tell they were on the same page. Without a second thought, Nine turned back to look at Mike. He looked terrified and Nine felt bad knowing they weren't about to help the situation. Then again, it was better that he understood and was prepared for what could happen.

Nine moved his hand away from the side of his head and, in unison with the girl beside him, pointed at Mike.

"Understand?" Eleven held eye contact with him, making sure he knew that they were serious.

Mike didn't say anything. He didn't even move, just sat there with his mouth slight agape and trying to process all this new information. Nine didn't know how long they would have stayed there before he responded if someone hadn't have yelled for him.

"Michael," A woman's voice shouted from upstairs. "Where are you? We're going to be late. Let's go!"

Mike turned back to them as he struggled to stand up. His hands shot up as he reached for the blanket overtop of the fort.

"All right, I'll be back." He stammered as he finally grabbed ahold of the it.

"Just stay here, okay? Stay here." He flipped the blanket down and over the entrance to the makeshift fort and ran up the steps.

Nine closed his eyes and let out a sigh. He really wished things didn't have to be this complicated.

——————

"You want anything to drink? We have OJ, skim milk... What else? Um, we have-" Mike turned to look at the strange duo as he realized neither of them were paying any attention to what he was saying.

Mike had only been gone for about half an hour before he came back through the back door of the basement. He told them that they could come upstairs with him since no one else was home. Nine felt uneasy even with that information. He couldn't help feeling like someone was going to come home and spot them while they weren't paying attention. He needed to make sure he had his guard up, just in case someone did come back.

That being said, it was definitely a challenge to try not to get distracted. Nine had never been inside of a house until now and there was so much stuff that he had never seen before and didn't understand. He wanted to get a good look. Nine didn't know when he would get another chance like this.

One of the things that immediately caught his eye was a small rectangular box with two antennas coming out of the top of it. Nine walked over to it and stood in front of it. There was also some buttons and knobs on the front side and Nine reached out to touch them.

"Oh, this is my living room. It's mostly just for watching TV. Nice, right? It's a 22-inch, like, ten times bigger than Dustin's." Mike explained excitedly. He moved over behind the TV and sat his hands atop of it as he spoke.

Nine looked away from him and noticed El who was looking at some framed pictures on a nearby shelf. Nine walked over to her to get a closer look. Eleven seemed to really like one particular picture of a girl. She looked a few years older than them and was wearing a pink blouse, giving a small smile to the camera. Eleven traced her fingers along the bottom of the frame and smiled.

"Pretty."

"I guess." Mike made a face as he walked over to stand behind them. "That's my sister Nancy, that's baby Holly, and those are my parents."

Nine's eyes skimmed past all the different pictures, trying to memorize the names with the faces.

"What are your parents like? Do they live close?" Mike asked, curiously. Eleven ignored him and walked over to a nearby chair. She walked around it and held her hands out to touch it.

"That's our La-Z-Boy. It's where my dad sleeps." He laughed.

"You can try it if you want."

Nine eyed the chair and looked at El. She gave a small shrug. Nine contemplated it before walking towards the chair.

"Yeah, it's fun." Mike encouraged.

Nine sat down and looked at Mike who had knelt on the ground to the right of him.

"Just trust me, okay?"

Nine nodded and tried to ignore the anxiety building in his stomach. He watched as Mike grabbed a lever on the side of the chair, something Nine hadn't seen beforehand, and pulled. The chair seemed to fall backwards but stopped once it had gotten far enough back for him to be laying down. Nine reopened his eyes as he heard Mike chuckle. Eleven laughed too but she seemed just as nervous as he was.

"See? Fun, right?" Mike smiled and grabbed the lever to sit him back up.

"Now you try." He turned to Eleven.

Nine got out of the chair and switched spots with El. She didn't seem as scared now that she knew what to expect. Mike stood back as she reached for the lever and pulled it. The chair shot back again and they all laughed as it rocked back and forth.

Nine was having fun and for the first time in a long time, he stopped worrying about other people.

——————

Nine tried, and failed, to hide his flinch when Mike slammed a figurine on the table and grunted. The toy was of a short green creature in a light brown robe. It would almost look like a human if it weren't for the unnatural skin color and the large pointy ears. Apparently, he was from something called _Star Wars_. Nine didn't understand it but Mike spoke about it with so much excitement that he figured it must be good.

"Ready are you? What knows you of ready?" Mike mimicked it's voice.

"His names Yoda! He can use the Force to move things with his mind, like this. Whoosh!" He hollered as he threw his hands out and shoved all the toys off the small table.

"Oh, this is my dinosaur, Rory. Look, he has a speaker in his mouth so-" Nine stopped listening to the other boy's rant and slowly stood up. He looked around before heading towards the dresser next to the door. The top of it was covered with framed pictures and small golden statues. Nine leaned over and gazed at one of the statues curiously. It was a woman with her hands outstretched towards the sky. On her back were two large wings that were pointed at the top, almost making it seem like they were pointing up as well. The woman also held a small torch in her right hand.

"These are all my science fair trophies." Mike informed him, leaning down next to him with El at his side.

"We got first every year. Except for last year when we got third."

Nine's eyes travelled down to the bottom of the small trophy. The bottom of the it was made up of a solid wooden block with a small plaque on the front. It was outlined in a reflective gold and read _Hawkins Middle School Team Problem Solving Champions_.

"Mr. Clarke said it was totally political."

Nine looked over at Mike after he went silent. Mike had his eyes trained curiously on Eleven who had bent over with her hands on her knees as she stared at the picture next to the trophy. Nine inspected it but didn't see anything unusual about it. The picture was of Mike, Lucas, Dustin, and a fourth boy that Nine hadn't met before. He was pale and had a light brown bowl cut. He was hunched over but Nine could still tell he was short. The small group were all huddled around a table with a trophy much taller than the one Mike had been talking about. They were all smiling at the camera and looked excited. It was a nice picture.

Nine looked back at El who was still staring at the photo. She didn't look happy, which confused Nine. He started to reach out and shake her shoulder but the movement of her hand stopped him. She, never taking her eyes off the photo, slowly held out her hand and pointed at the fourth boy. Nine frowned. Had they met him before? If Eleven knew him then Nine should too.

"You know Will?" Mike seemed to voice Nine's thoughts.

"Did you see him? Last night? On the road?" Mike interrogated urgently. Nine tried to ignore the sick feeling in his stomach at the other boy's expression. He somehow managed to look scared and relieved at the same time. Nine didn't know if that was a good thing.

Nine's thoughts were cut off at the sound of a vehicle pulling up outside. Mike ran towards the window and looked down at the driveway. He let out a panicked breath as he ran back towards them.

"We gotta go!" He grabbed Eleven's wrist as he pulled the bedroom door open. Nine, trying not to freak out, was hot on their tail as they ran out the door and into the hallway.

Mike practically dragged El down the stairs as he went and Nine was worried he'd trip. Just as the trio were almost to the bottom the door opened.

"I bought pizza and macaroni."

"Okay."

The voice of the little girl was so quiet Nine almost didn't catch it. He was quick to react and, seeing as their only other exit was cut off, fled back up the stairs. He could hear Mike and Eleven right behind him. They were being way too loud but Nine was too full of adrenaline to notice.

"Ted?" The woman's voice called out. "Is that you?"

"Just me, mom!" Mike hollered back.

"Mike? What are you doing home?"

"One second!"

Mike slammed the door to his room shut and Nine tried to even out his breathing. The raven haired boy wasted no time as he grabbed Nine and Eleven by the hand and dragged them over to his closet door.

"In here." He ordered as he opened it. "I'll be right back, okay?"

Mike could see the hesitation on their faces immediately.

"Please, you have to get in, or my mom, she'll find you." He begged.

"Do you understand? I won't tell her about you, I promise."

Nine looked the other in the eyes.

"Promise?" He questioned. Nine hadn't ever heard of that.

Mike was clearly desperate and Nine felt bad. He didn't wanna cause any trouble but he didn't wanna be trapped. Not again! He couldn't do it. Besides, what if he was lying? Granted, Mike had been nice to them thus far but they'd really only known him for a day. Nine couldn't put much faith in that.

"It means something that you can't break. Ever."

"Michael?"

Mike looked back at him.

"Please?"

Nine looked to Eleven who let out a soft sigh and stepped inside. Nine could practically feel his legs trembling as he realized he really had no other choice. He moved forward and stepped inside the small room. He felt the hangers stab into his back as he turned around. Mike was already shutting the door and Nine felt like he could cry.

The door made a loud slam as it closed. Nine breathed heavily as he backed up, moving the hangers and clothes as he went. He didn't stop until he felt his back hit the solid wall behind him. Eleven didn't seem to be doing all the much better but she was still standing. Nine could barely stand with the shaking in his legs. He leaned against the wall as he tried not to sink down onto the floor. He closed his eyes as old, terrible, memories came flooding back into his head.

_"Papa!" A younger Nine screamed. There were two men on either side of him and they each had a hold of his arms, dragging him down the white hallways of the lab._

_They were gonna take him back. He didn't want to go back. It wasn't his fault that he couldn't do what Papa had asked! He really tried, he just wasn't strong enough. That wasn't his fault! Was it?_

_Nine planted his heels out in front of him, desperately trying to get them to stop. He didn't wanna go back. He could do it! He'd just have to try harder! Just as long as he didn't have to go back in the room._

_"Papa! Papa!" Nine cried out as the men shifted their grip from his forearm to under his armpits. They lifted his small body so that his feet could no longer touch the floor and he couldn't resist them._

_Nine turned his head back as he called out. He could see Papa there. He was standing in his usual jeans and long white coat. That's what almost everyone wore here. If they weren’t in the coats then they were in white button ups and dress pants._

_Nine could feel the tears building in his eyes as he looked at him. Papa was just standing in the middle of the hallway, watching him. His expression was blank and Nine knew that he wasn't going to help him. That didn't stop him from begging though. It was the only thing he could do and he tried to hold on to the sliver of hope that Papa might just come to his defense. Maybe he'd feel sorry for him and yell at the men, telling them to put him down. That he could be given another chance to do as he was asked. Nine was sure he could do it, he'd just have to use more strength._

_"Papa! No!"_

_Nine kept kicking and screaming as he tried to fight his way out of the two men's grip. He felt what little hope he had left evaporate as they turned the corner and Papa was no longer in his sight._

_"No! No! No!" The room was just a few feet ahead of them now and Nine only screamed louder as they got closer. The tears that had been threatening to fall earlier were now full sobs._

_Nine fought harder as they finally approached the open door. He yelped as the men threw him inside and onto the hard floor. He tried to catch himself but only managed to land his hands on the ground to hold him up right. Nine quickly jumped back onto his feet and tried to race out the door but it was too late. He ran towards the entrance only to have the heavy metal slammed in his face. He pounded against the door, desperate to be let out._

_"Papa! Papa! Papa!" Nine pleaded._

_It only took those few seconds for Nine to slow down with the pounding, knowing it wouldn't help him. His cries echoed in the room around him as he turned his back to the door. He rested his head against the cool metal and clutched his hands to his chest as he slid down to sit on the tiled floor. Nine shut his eyes as he tried to calm himself._

Nine tried to stop shaking as he sat on the carpeted floor of the closet. He didn't know when he sat down but it was probably for the best. If he stayed standing any longer he might have fell over.

He could feel his heart racing and opened his eyes. The room almost looked like it was spinning but Nine couldn't tell whether it was his imagination or not. He tried to ignore the heat flashing throughout his body as he glanced around. He needed to try and distract himself. Nine doubted that would do much but it was better than nothing.

Eleven, who he had momentarily forgot was with him, was now crouched in front of him. She looked down at him and he could see tears in her eyes too. She sat down on his right side and lifted her left arm to rest over his shoulders like he had done to her the night before.

He hated that he had reacted so badly to this. El had gone through the same things he did yet here he was, sitting on the floor bawling as she tried to comfort him. Nine wished he was stronger. Papa always punished him because he wasn't strong, yet somehow it never seemed to be enough. Nine needed to toughen up.

He couldn't help it though. He wished he wasn't so emotional but he didn't know how to control it. Nine was good at it most of the time, he had learned how to hold everything back throughout the years, but every once in awhile he would boil over. Everything would come out at once and he hated it. He hated being weak!

Nine's tears slowed after a bit and he hugged his knees, covering his face. El never said anything but she never took her arm away either, occasionally giving him a small pat on the shoulder. Nine didn't know how long they stayed there before he heard the bedroom door open and shut and Mike call out to them.

"Guys? Is everything okay?"

He could hear Mike walking closer to the closet door but didn't move his head out of his hands until it swung open. Mike crouched down in front of them as El spoke up.

"Mike."

"Is everything okay?" He asked as he glanced between the two of them, clearly taking notice to the tear tracks on their faces. He looked to Nine who took a deep breath in and nodded.

"Yes."

"Are you sure?" Mike questioned.

Nine tried to give a small smile, though he's not sure how convincing it was.

"Promise."

——————

"Are you out of your mind?"

Mike had only just closed the bedroom door before Lucas started in on him. Him and Dustin had come back from school, whatever that was, and Nine guessed they had planned for Eleven and him to be gone by now.

"Just listen to me."

"You are out of your mind!" Lucas grit his teeth as he and Dustin stared at Nine and Eleven. Nine pursed his lips from where he was sat on the bed as he could feel a fight about to break out. Nine never was one to like confrontation.

"El knows about Will." Mike tried to explain.

"What do you mean she knows about Will?" Dustin asked.

Mike let out a huff as he grabbed the picture from earlier off of the top of his dresser.

"She pointed at him, at his picture. She knew he was missing. I could tell."

"You could tell?" Lucas scoffed.

"Just think about it! Do you really think it was a coincidence that we found them on Mirkwood, the same place where Will dissapeared?"

"That is weird." Dustin's eyes widened.

"And they said bad people are after them. I think maybe these bad people are the same ones that took Will. I think they know what happened to him."

"Then why don't they tell us?" Lucas turned to look at them.

Nine stiffened as he approached them. Nine wasn't sure if he would hurt them. He didn't look like he would be much of a fight but Nine was sick of hurting people and Lucas wasn't very friendly.

"Do you know where he is?" The question seemed to be geared towards Eleven and that only put Nine more on edge. He didn't wanna use his powers against any of them but he had to be ready for anything.

Lucas, who was clearly getting more agitated every second, turned towards Nine when Eleven didn't speak. The other boy planted his hands on Nine's shoulders and shook him.

"Do you know where Will is?" He snarled. Nine held his hands to his sides as he stared back into Lucas' eyes. He wanted to answer but he couldn't. Nine had no idea who or where Will was. Nine wasn't too sure how Eleven knew him. Nine guessed it was possible that he had been at Benny's and she had noticed him while Nine hadn't but that didn't seem likely. The only other way she could have known him was if it had something to do with her powers. Nine really didn't want that to be the case.

"Stop it, you're scaring them!"

"They should be scared! If you know where he is, tell us!" Lucas ordered.

Nine glanced at El who looked like she was gonna tear up any second now. Nine glared at the side of Lucas' head as he turned back to Mike.

"This is nuts. We have to take them to your mom."

"No! Nine and Eleven said that telling any adult would put us in danger."

"What kind of danger?" Dustin squeaked.

"Their names are Nine and Eleven?" Lucas narrowed his eyes.

"El for short."

"Mike," Dustin snapped. "What kind of danger?"

"Danger, danger!"

Mike frowned as he lifted his hand and made the shape of a gun. He held it to Dustin's head, just as Nine and Eleven had done to him this morning. He ignored Dustin's shocked face as he turned and did the same to Lucas who smacked his hand away instantly.

"No, no, no!" He chanted. "We're going back to plan A. We're telling your mom."

Lucas wasted no time in making a break for the door. He started to open it before he stopped moving. Mike and Dustin, who had been following after him, halted at his sudden stop.

"Uh, Lucas?" Dustin drawled out.

Lucas said nothing but slowly started to back away from the door. He stopped once he was next to the other two boys. His friend's examined him and noticed the now glazed look in his eyes.

"Lucas? Are you okay-"

Mike started to reach out for his friend but flinched and turned back around to the door that had suddenly, and forcefully, slammed shut. Dustin stood next to him looking just as unnerved.

Lucas, who came out of his trance amidst the distraction, rubbed his forehead and groaned. However, he didn't seem to wanna give up and tried to walk back towards the door only to stop on his second step. The lock turned and let out a soft click.

"No."

Lucas spoke in a monotone voice, eyes glazed and staring straight forward. Mike reaches forward towards him and shook his shoulders.

“What? What’s wrong with you?”

Lucas seemed to snap out of it as he let out a breath. He groaned and brought his hand up to rub his forehead.

“No.”

The three boys turned back towards Nine who, along with El, was now standing and glaring at the boy as blood dripped from their noses.

——————

"El? Nine?"

Nine looked up from where he sat in the fort. Eleven had been playing with Mike's Supercomm again and Nine had been listening and watching. There wasn’t much else to do.

They were really supposed to be upstairs. Mike, Lucas, and Dustin had been called down to dinner after their show of powers and Mike told them not to leave. They’d gotten bored though and El wanted to go back down to the fort. Nine had been nervous to leave but eventually surrendered and left with her. They were almost caught by Mike’s family but Dustin distracted them by banging on the table. They never should have left the room in the first place but at least nothing bad came out of it.

Mike was holding a large tray as he came over and sat in front of them. Lucas and Dustin walked down the stairs but they made sure to keep a good distance.

“No adults. Just us and some meatloaf."

Nine ignored Mike as he stared down the other two boys in the room. Mike noticed and tried to reassure him.

"Don't worry. They won't tell anyone about you. They promise. Right?" Mike turned to look at them.

"We never would have upset you if we knew you had superpowers." Dustin smiled. Mike leaned over and punched the curly haired boy in the leg, ignoring his cry of pain, and turned back to them.

"What Dustin is trying to say is that they were just scared...earlier. That's all."

"We just wanted to find our friend." Lucas chimed in.

Nine narrowed his eyes curiously and leaned forward.

"Friend?"

"Yeah, friend. Will?"

"What is 'friend'?" Eleven questioned.

"Are they serious?" Lucas whispered to Dustin. The boy only shrugged in response. Lucas looked uncomfortable but turned back to them.

"Um, a friend-"

"Is someone that you'd do anything for." Mike cut him off.

"You lend them your cool stuff, like comic books and trading cards." Dustin added.

"And they never break a promise."

"Especially when there's spit."

"Spit?" Nine tilted his head.

"A spit swear means..." Lucas held his hand out in front of his mouth and made a noise. Nine assumed he was trying to imitate 'spit'.

"You never break your word. It's a bond." He explained as he clasped his hands together and shook them.

"That's super important because friends... they tell each other things. Things that parents don't know."

Nine looked over to El as Mike spoke. So, El was his 'friend'? Were Mike, Dustin, and Lucas his friends too? They showed them their powers and promised not to tell anyone. Did that make them friends?

Nine didn't have a lot of friends. He hoped that he could call them that someday.

——————

Nine was standing with the three other boys as they talked about who knows what. He knew it had something to do with Will but he didn't understand any of it. However, he didn't stay confused for long as his attention went to El as she walked towards a nearby table. Mike. Lucas, and Dustin seemed to notice her too as they went silent. Nine watched as she sat down in one of the chairs and stared at the board on the top of the wood.

"What's the weirdo doing?" Lucas whispered. Nine chose to ignore the remark as they approached her. Mike said her name as he approached but she didn't seem to hear him, that or she ignored him.

El sat with her hands stretched out to touch the board in front of her. It was flat and foldable with a few black figurines sat on top of it. She had her eyes closed and head tilted towards the board. She stayed that way only for a few seconds before she jerked her head up and opened her eyes.

She stared down at the figurines on the board before moving to pick one of them up. She held up the small thing to her face in silence.

"Will."

This seemed to strike a cord with the other three as Dustin stared at her, amazed.

"Superpowers."

Lucas rolled his eyes at the other as Mike sat down next to El.

"Did you see him? On Mirkwood? Do you know where he is?" He inquired. El side eyed the boy as she held her hand out and slid it over the board. The rest of the pieces fell off the table with a clatter but she payed no mind to it. Instead she reached for the top of the board and flipped it over. The underside had no designs or colors like the top did, only a pure black. Eleven then reached for Will's piece and set it in the middle.

"I don't understand." Mike whispered.

"Hiding."

"Will is hiding?"

El nodded but refused to meet his eyes.

"From the bad men?"

She shook her head.

"Then from who?"

El reached for a piece next to her. Nine hadn't noticed it there before. It was some sort of monster with two heads. She picked it up and placed it in front of Will.

Mike leaned back to look at Lucas and Dustin. Dustin put his hands over his head and let out a scared sigh while Lucas leaned over with his hands on his knees, staring at the board.

Nine was already staring at Eleven when she turned to look at him. He understood what she was saying the minute she flipped the board over. They would always tell each other about the things that Papa made them do when they had the opportunity. Nine recalled that just a few days before they had left, El had told him of something that she'd done. It wasn't her fault, but even so, he knew that must be what she was talking about. The thing she had seen, that somehow knew she was there, it was free now.

Sadly, it looks like it's already started looking for food.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! I hope that everyone reading this enjoyed the chapter! I know it's been awhile, a month actually, since I've updated. I really wish I could've done it sooner but I've been swamped with school work. However, good news is that we finally know when my school is getting out! We should be done in 2 weeks! Most other schools in our area are getting out today (Lucky-) or next Friday but my school has a tendency to make us go as many days as possible so I saw this coming. I'm excited for school to finish and finally have time to write again! I think I'll try and update once every two weeks, that sounds reasonable to me.
> 
> That being said I want to thank everyone who has left comments! I love hearing feedback so I really appreciate it. I'm still not entirely sure when I'll be bringing the gang in but I've still got time to decide so I'm not stressed about it.
> 
> Until next time, baiii!
> 
> -Merce
> 
> (P.S. Have any of y’all been playing Animal Crossing? This isn’t releveant at all but like, I got it a few days ago and it’s surprisingly fun.)


	4. PLEASE READ! IMPORTANT!

Listen, I know you are all expecting an update and I’m working on it but this is more important. If you have ever used Wattpad and your account is still up then you need to try and change your email and password. Wattpad was hacked about a week ago and people are still just now finding out about it, myself included. 

Hackers have stolen LOTS of incredibly important information such as names, ages, genders, geographical locations, and IP addresses. This information is now being sold on the dark web. 

To find out if you have been hacked you need to check the email you have linked to your account and use it here: https://haveibeenpwned.com/

This will tell you if your email has ever been breached. It will tell you the general date and site it was breached from and what information they got. 

If your account hasn’t been breached yet, I believe the best course of action would be to change your email and password (change your email to something fake or that you barely use so it has no important info) then delete your account. 

If your account has been breached then please don’t panic. You need to log into your account and change your email to something fake or something that has no important info attached to it. Then change your password and delete your account. Be warned that for many of us, it’s not letting us do this. You just need to keep trying until it works. If you have Twitter then get on there and search Wattpad. This will show you tweets that mention Wattpad and most of them are talking about this. There are some tweets out that explain what to do if your information has been leaked.

My account was one of the accounts that got breached, along with many others. I’m currently trying to solve the issue as best as I can but I’m having a lot of issues with it and I’m doubting if I’ll be able to fix it at all. What does that mean for me? I’m not sure. 

All in all, please be careful. I don’t plan on ever using that site ever again after this, even though I haven’t used it hardly at all in the past three years. It’s awful that they’ve failed to not only protect their many UNDERAGE users but they also failed to make them aware that anything was wrong for so long. 

With all that’s happened in 2020 so far, this was the last thing we needed but it’s here and we have to deal with it now. Please be safe everyone.

I’ll see you next time, when I will hopefully have this sorted out on my end. Until then, 

-Merce✨


	5. Holly Jolly

“We just tell our parents that we have AV Club after school. That'll give us at least a few hours for Operation Mirkwood."

Nine walked around the basement, admiring everything on the wooden walls. There were a lot of drawings taped to them and he vaguely wondered if they were done by Mike's sister or if they were some old drawings Mike did. It reminded Nine of the stuff he used to do back at the lab. Nine wasn't left alone very often but when it did happen he would be sent to his room. It wasn't much, just a small white room with a bed and a desk, but it was Nine's space. He didn't have a lot to do so he took up drawing when he could. He wasn't very good at it but it calmed him down and made him happy. That was the only motivation Nine needed to keep doing it.

"You seriously think that the weirdo knows where Will is?"

Nine looked over to the table that Dustin, Lucas, and Mike were gathered around. Nine had already gotten used to Lucas' special name for him and Eleven. Nine didn't really know what the word meant but he doubted it was good since he'd been calling them that since their first night at Mike's. Unlike Nine, Eleven didn't seem too bothered by it.

Nine glanced over at her from where he stood across the room. She was laying on the couch and toying with the super-comm again. Nine really didn't know why she liked it so much. It only ever made different static noises, unless someone was within range to speak. It didn't seem like anything special to Nine.

"Just trust me on this, okay?"

Nine turned back to the other three boys in the room as Mike spoke.

"Okay." Lucas nodded.

"Did you get the supplies?"

"Yeah." Lucas leaned down as he began piling stuff on the table.

"Binoculars from 'Nam. Army knife, also from 'Nam. Hammer, camouflage bandana, and the wrist rocket." Lucas smiled proudly as he showed off the last item.

"You're gonna take out the Demogorgon with a slingshot?" Dustin sneered.

"First of all, it's a wrist rocket. Second of all, the Demogorgon's not real. It's made up! But if there is something out there, I'm gonna shoot it in the eye..." Lucas gripped the yellow rubber on the slingshot and pulled it back. It made a loud snap as he let go and Dustin flinched. "And blind it."

Mike rolled his eyes at Lucas and turned away from him.

"Dustin, what did you get?"

Dustin grabbed the small green backpack beside him and dumped the contents messily on the table. Nine, who was getting bored, walked back over to the couch to sit with El.

"Well, alrighty. So, we've got _Nutty Bars_ , _Bazooka_ , _Pez_ , _Smarties_ , _Pringles_ , _Nilla Wafers_ , apple, banana, and trail mix." Dustin held up each snack as he called it off. He smiled up at his friends once he was done, only to meet their blank stares.

"Seriously?" Lucas glowered.

"We need energy for our travels. For stamina! And besides, why do we even need weapons anyway? We have them!" Dustin gestured towards Nine and Eleven.

"She shut one door!"

"With her mind! And he literally took control of yours!" Lucas sighed as Dustin went on. "Are you kidding me? That's insane! Imagine all the other cool stuff they could do!"

"Like..." Dustin turned around and jogged over to where Nine and Eleven sat. Nine thought he was gonna grab one of them but instead he went to the other sofa next to them. He pulled off one of the many blankets covering the chair to reveal some sort of toy. It was a large gray object but Nine had no clue what it was supposed to be. He could only assume it was something from one of the movies or comics Mike liked. Dustin grabbed it and grinned at his friends. "I bet... that she could make this fly!"

Dustin turned to look at the pair on the couch. El was paying no mind to the curly haired boy, instead continuing to fidget with the Super-Comm she seemed so obsessed with.

"Hey. Hey." Dustin whispered. Eleven looked blankly up at him as he held the toy. "Okay, concentrate. Okay?"

Dustin let go of the toy, letting it drop to the floor with a loud clatter. Nine heard Lucas let out a sigh at the noise. Nine honestly didn't know whether he should be mad or laugh. He thought it was funny that Dustin figured they would just use their powers whenever commanded to but it also made him upset. They weren't dogs! They didn't have to do anything they didn't want to and Nine would rather die then have to go back to being someone's experiment.

"Okay, one more time." Dustin picked the gray thing back up again as Nine eyed him.

"Use your powers, okay?" Eleven held eye contact with him as he let it go. It fell to the floor again as Lucas shook his head.

"Idiot."

Mike, having seen enough, ran over and picked up the toy.

"They're not dogs!" Mike was about to speak again when a voice yelled from upstairs.

"Boys! Time for school!"

Mike, Lucas, and Dustin hurried to pick up their stuff. Dustin and Lucas ran upstairs but Mike crouched in front of them.

"Stay down here." He said seriously. "Don't make any noise, and don't leave. If you get hungry, eat Dustin's snacks, okay?"

"Michael!"

"Coming!" Mike yelled. Nine flinched at his tone but said nothing. He turned back to face the two of them again. "You know those power lines?"

"Power lines?" El questioned.

"Yeah. The ones behind my house?"

"Yes." She nodded.

"Meet us there, after school."

"After school?" Mike looked to Nine as he spoke. Nine didn't know what school was. Sure, Mike had mentioned it a couple of times but he'd never really explained what it was. Was he supposed to know that?

"Yeah, 3:15." Nine gazed at him, trying to understand what he was saying. Suddenly, Mike's eyes lit up as he held up his wrist.

"Ah." He fumbled with the device on it before he got it off. Mike held the small thing out towards Nine, who reluctantly stuck his own hand forward. Mike wrapped it around his wrist and clipped it together. It was then that Nine got a good look at it. It felt weird but it didn't hurt. It had a rectangular screen on the top with numbers on it.

"When the numbers read three-one-five, meet us there."

"Three-one-five." Eleven repeated. Nine would have to make sure to remember that.

"Three-one-five." Mike gave a soft smile before before bolting to grab his bag. Nine watched as he ran up the stairs before looking back down at the object on his wrist. There really was a lot he needed to learn about the world.

——————

Nine fiddled with the clear wrapper of his _Nutty Bar_ as he watched El. She was sitting on the floor in front of the couch and staring intently at the toy from earlier, keeping it floating midair.

It had been awhile since the others had left. The numbers on the device Nine had read 12:19. With all the time alone to think, Nine realized that he may have seen this thing before. If not, it was at least something similar. He remembered that Papa also used to wear something like this. It didn't look exactly the same. Papa's was a circle, unlike Mike's. Nine didn't know if they were the same since Papa's was usually covered up by his sleeve but from the few glimpses Nine got of it, they didn't look too different.

Nine looked back at Eleven as she let the toy drop to the floor. She reached back to grab the Super-comm that was next to him and flicked it on. The sound of static filled the room and Nine tried not to roll his eyes. He was beginning to get tired of that noise. Luckily, El seemed to be getting bored of it too. Almost immediately after turning it on she sat it down. She looked around the room before her eyes landed on the stairs.

Nine did not like the look on her face. She was doing a really bad job at holding back a smile and that meant she wasn't up to anything good. Nine's suspicions were confirmed as she turned around to look at him.

"Come." She said as she got on her feet. He opened his mouth to protest but she was already walking away. Nine sighed as he sat up and went after her.

Eleven was already sneaking through the hallway by the time Nine got to her. They walked cautiously, listening in case someone were to come back. They'd already almost been caught once, they had to be extra careful, especially since no one would be there to cover for them this time.

Nine looked around as they made their way into the living room. If they were going to look around on their own then Nine figured he might as well look for stuff he hadn't seen before. Eleven made her way over to the Lay-Z-Boy and Nine laughed as she let the chair down.

Nine stopped as something next to the chair caught his eye. There was a small basket under the table. Nine dropped to his knees as El walked past him towards the TV. He grabbed the side of it and pulled it towards him.

It was filled with what looked similar to books. Nine wasn't allowed to have a lot of books back at the lab, but he was given them every once in awhile. Mostly to keep him entertained if they didn't plan on talking to him for the next few days. They were never long, only a few pages long, but Nine liked them. His favorite was one called _The Giving Tree_. He had begged Papa to let him keep it, and surprisingly, he let him. It was one of the only things he ever 'owned' at the lab. Nine loved it. It made him a little sad though, he wished he had someone like the tree to be there for him. Honestly, that's why Nine liked the book so much. If he couldn't have anyone like that for himself, he could at least imagine he did.

Nine picked one of the books up from the basket. These were different from the books he had read. They didn't have a hard cover, instead they felt like smooth paper. There were almost more pictures than there were words! It was covered in photos of women, clothes, and other stuff that Nine didn't even know the name of. What kind of book was this?

Nine continued looking through the basket of books. They all looked so similar yet different. The biggest difference was the pictures. Some of the books seemed to be dedicated to plants while others focused on electronics. Nine didn't know what these were or what they were for but he definitely preferred the books they gave him back at the lab. That seemed to be the only thing that the lab did better than the outside world.

Nine gathered and placed all of the books back in the basket before pushing it back next to the table. He pushed himself off the floor and turned around.

Eleven was seated on her knees in front of the TV. Nine had been so distracted that he didn't hear her turn it on. Nine moved to the side so he could see the screen. The first thing he noticed was the bright colors. Everything seemed so much brighter outside of the lab. He could see a bunch of smiling happy people running around on the beach. What was strange was the giant can of Coke rolling behind them.

" _-And the things that you do, Coke is right there with you! Coke is it!_ "

Nine grinned at the tune and bobbed his head gently as he listened.

" _When you want to feel me fresh! Coke is it! And when you're thirsty for the best! Coke is it-_ "

Nine snapped out of his daze when the TV started to static. He looked over at El who had her eyes closed. Nine frowned and bent down next to her. He reached out to grab her and when his hand touched her shoulder her eyes opened. The TV stopped with the static immediately.

" _The biggest taste you'll ever get! Coke is it! Coke is it!_ "

Nine ignored the music in favor of checking on Eleven. She didn't even seem to realize he was there. She just stared at the TV. Nine shook her arm lightly and she finally turned to look at him. Nine tilted his head at her questioningly.

El seemed to understand what he was trying to ask as she quirked the corner of her lips up in a small smile. Nine felt bad but he was sure she'd be fine. Nine knew a bad memory when he saw one. They weren't fun but there was nothing they could do about it. That kind of thing was just normal. Everyone has memories like that.

Nine returned the gesture before looking away from her. He wondered if there was anything else in here that he had never seen before.

——————

Nine followed El as she went up the stairs. The two of them had scrounged around the living room for awhile before they got bored. Nine felt like they should go back downstairs and stay there like Mike wanted them to but he wouldn't just leave Eleven alone up here. So, they were now heading upstairs to Mike's room.

Nine turned and looked down at the bottom of the stairs. He really didn't like doing this. He was terrified that someone would come in and find them while they weren't being careful. If El wasn't gonna be alert then he had to be.

Nine whipped his head back around as he tripped on one of the steps. Eleven turned to look at him as he steadied himself. She was trying to hold back a smile but he could see the amusement in her eyes. Nine felt blood rush to his cheeks as they kept going. So much for being alert..

When they reached the top of the stairs Nine turned to go to Mike's room but El grabbed his wrist. She led him to the right towards another door. Nine wasn't sure they should be looking around other rooms. Someone could notice they'd moved something if they weren't very careful.

Nine followed close behind as El nudged the door open. The small room most likely belonged to Mike's older sister who's name he'd already forgotten. He doubted it belonged to the youngest considering the bed size.

The wallpaper was made up of thin vertical light pink and beige lines and the carpet a navy blue. The bed had a thin white frame and a patch quilt with the same colors as the walls and carpet. It sat in front of the window and took up the majority of the room space. Right next to the door was a small white desk with papers littered across it.

Nine stepped over to the desk. He tried to read some of the papers but the words were too complicated. He didn't understand it at all. Instead, he opted for looking at all the pictures on the board over the desk. There were tons of small pictures stuck to it with what looked like really small needles. Nine had seen these at the lab before but he didn't know what they were called. The pictures all had Mike's older sister in them so Nine knew he'd guessed correctly. Half of the pictures were just her by herself. Some that looked recent and others that were clearly taken when she was very young. However, the majority of them were her with this one girl. She had short bobbed red hair and pale skin. Her face was littered with freckles and she had black thick-rimmed glasses. Nine guessed it must be some close friend.

Nine turned to face El when the sound of music cut through the air. She had opened a small white box that was sitting on the drawers. The box had a little person inside and the figurine spun as the soft music played. Nine thought the sound was surprisingly comforting.

Nine was almost disappointed when Eleven closed the box and the sound stopped. El turned away from the drawers and they both turned back to look at the photo board.

Neither of them said a word as they looked at the pictures. Sometimes, Nine wondered what El was thinking. He was good at guessing but it was harder to tell with Eleven than with other people. She didn't give off as many physical or verbal cues. As close as they were, they were still very different people. Nine knew that others would disagree but they didn't really know them. All they saw were two kids who never talked or left each other's side. They didn't see that Nine was more introverted than El. They didn't see that El relied on her instincts to tell her what to do while Nine thought things out. They were similar in a lot of ways but they weren't as similar as everyone thought they were.

Nine wished they were. Then he might be able to tell what was troubling her as she stared at the picture of Nancy's friend.

——————

Nine leaned against the metal fence as Eleven paced. He looked down at the thing on his wrist as he listened to her muttering.

"Three-one-five. Three-one-five. Three-one-five.."

Nine held his wrist out to her, displaying the bright green _3:17_.

They had been out here for two minutes. Nine was anxious because of how open the area they were in was. There were a few thin trees to their left but other than that there was nothing they could use to hide. He just had to hope that Mike, Lucas, and Dustin would get there soon.

Nine flipped around as he heard a hiss from behind him. On the other side of the fence was a small orange cat. Nine relaxed at the sight. At least it was nothing that could really hurt them. The cat could try and scratch them but he doubted it would happen from the other side of the fence.

Nine didn't have much experience with animals but cats were one of the few he'd interacted with before. Animals were often used as test subjects when he was working on his powers. Nine remembered how frustrated he was at not being able to control the cat and make it do what he wanted. Papa had been so disappointed. He'd gotten punished every time.

That didn't matter anymore though! He did get it eventually. He remembered how happy he was the first time he managed to control the cat. Looking back on it, it was a simple task. All he had to do was make it eat the food that Papa had set out. Nine wasn't sure what the food was but it smelled sweet. It was a bunch of small brown shavings. Papa had said that cats normally didn't like that food and wouldn't eat it so that was his challenge.

Nine remembered concentrating so hard. He had been determined to finally succeed and he did. He had managed to tap into the cat's head and make it eat some of the shavings. Papa had never looked so pleased.

Nine looked over at Eleven and zeroed in on the look on her face. He stepped forward and put his hand on her shoulder. She was breathing heavily as she held her gaze on the cat.

Nine shook her shoulder gently. She looked over to him and Nine took a deep breath. El mimicked him and Nine decided to keep leading her until he felt she was okay.

"El! Nine!"

The duo looked over to their left to see the boys walking up to them, bikes at their side.

"You okay?"

They nodded. Mike seemed to accept their answer and the three boys turned their bikes around.

"Hop on," Mike patted his seat and motioned El forward. "We only have a few hours."

Nine walked over to Dustin and got on the back. The group took off towards the road as Nine tried to hold on as tight as possible. He didn't think he liked bikes very much.

——————

Nine let his eyes wander around the forest as they trudged uphill. The leaves were a crisp brown and they crunched satisfyingly under his feet as he walked. They had been walking for awhile now and as much as Nine loved the view, he hoped the place El was taking them to wasn't far.

"So, you can control minds, right?" Dustin asked. "That's super cool! You two are kind of like superheroes, you know that?"

Nine bit his lip as he tried his hardest to ignore him. Dustin was nice but Nine wondered if he was capable of shutting his mouth. Maybe this was normal and Nine just wasn't used to this much conversation but he was losing his ability to care. Who cares if it was normal? Nine was never talkative and he doubted that he would change in the future.

"Do you have a favorite superhero? Mine changes a lot but right now it's Wolverine. Do you even know what superheroes are? It's totally fine if you don't! I can let you borrow some of my comics if you want."

Nine let out a breath as he stared ahead. Hopefully, if he kept refusing to respond, he would stop talking.

Nine felt a tap on his right shoulder and turned to look at Lucas.

"Sorry about him," He whispered. "He gets like this when he's excited. He should calm down eventually."

Nine smiled at that and nodded. He was glad that Lucas didn't seem the type to talk your ear off. He may not be as friendly but Nine could understand that. He could actually relate in some ways. Now he just had to hope that he was right.

——————

It got dark awhile ago. Nine was grateful that their bikes had lights on them. It wasn't much but it was something.

Nine felt relief flood him as Mike and El stopped walking. Finally!

Eleven had led them to a small white house. Will was here? It looked like people lived there. Was someone holding him in there?

"Here." El said.

"Yeah, this is where Will lives." Mike nodded.

"Hiding."

"No, no, this is where he lives," Mike explained. "He's missing from here. Understand?"

Lucas and Dustin dropped their bikes as the three of them finally caught up to them. Lucas glared at Eleven.

"What are we doing here?" He asked.

"She said he's hiding here."

"Um, no!" Lucas stared at Mike in disbelief.

"I swear if we walked all the way out here for nothing-" Dustin started but Lucas cut him off.

"That's exactly what we did! I told you she didn't know what the hell she was talking about!"

Nine flinched at his tone. This was going great.

Although, Nine was confused too. If he really did live here then he didn't understand how he could be hiding here. Surely they would have checked here first?

Mike turned back to El.

"Why did you bring us here?"

Eleven stammered as she stared at him. Nine felt awful. Even if he was confused too, he knew El wouldn't have led them here for nothing. Besides, Eleven was good at using her powers. He doubted she had made a mistake. There had to be a reason she thought Will would be here.

"Mike, don't waste your time with her."

"What do you want to do then?"

"Call the cops, like we should have done yesterday."

Nine tensed at that. If they tried to call someone they'd be killed. Then him and Eleven would be sent back to Papa. They had just got out. They couldn't go back! It was practically a miracle that they'd managed to escape the first time. If they got caught then there was no way they'd ever get out again. This was their only shot and he refused to watch as someone gave their location away.

"Guys!"

All four of them turned to look at Dustin. He had walked in front of them while they were distracted and he was staring straight ahead.

They each stepped forward as the sound of sirens got closer. They all watched as two small cars with blue and red lights flew past, followed by a bigger white car with red flights at the top. Nine had no idea what they were but Nine knew they must be important.

"Will…" Mike said it so quietly Nine almost didn't hear it.

They raced back to get on their bikes and took off. Nine felt water splash at the bottom of his pants as they rode over a puddle. He really hoped it wasn't really Will.

——————

Nine held his feet close to his chest as they rode down the dirt road and stopped behind a big red car. They were in front of a lake now. There were a lot of people there. Nine guessed some of them were cops but he didn't know which ones or who the others were.

They quickly got off the bikes and crouched next to the car, trying to see what was happening without anyone noticing them.

Nine watched intently as two men lifted a small body out of the water. Will. He didn't know who else it could be.

"It's not Will. It can't be." Mike murmured.

The two men brought the body to shore together where the others were waiting.

"It's Will. It's really Will."

How? Eleven said he was alive and Nine trusted her. She wouldn't have said it unless she believed it. Nine looked over at her and felt his heart break at the disbelief on her face. She didn't understand either.

They all turned away from the scene and Mike leaned against the other side of the car.

"Mike.." Eleven started as she put her hand on his shoulder.

Nine panicked as Mike hit her hand away. He quickly went to her side, ready to help if things got physical. He understood that Mike was angry but he wouldn't let someone treat his sister like that.

"Mike? Mike what? You were supposed to help us find him alive! You said he was alive! Why did you lie to us?"

El backed up as Mike stepped forward. Nine moved slightly in front of her. He didn't foresee this having a good ending.

"What's wrong with you? What is wrong with you two?" Finally, he noticed Nine standing beside her. Better late than never.

Eleven teared up as she shook her head. "Mike.."

"What?"

He waited for her to say something but she didn't. Mike scoffed as he walked off.

"Mike, come on. Don't do this, man." Lucas had tears in his eyes too. Nine felt bad for them. He knew they were really hurt over Will right now. "Mike!"

"Mike, where are you going? Mike!" Dustin called after him.

Mike ignored them all as he picked up his bike and ran back up the hill. Lucas yelled at him again but he didn't even turn to look.

Nine turned to look at El. She had her head in her right hand and Nine reached out to grab her left one and squeezed. He pushed down his own sadness as he watched the other boy take off. He felt bad for them but he had to stick with Eleven. She was his priority.

He didn't know what they were gonna do now but he would make sure they figured it out. He was determined to make sure things worked. If they didn't then they could get caught again and Nine refused to go down without a fight.

——————

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back~! I'm so sorry I've been gone for so long! There's been so much going on in the world recently and I've been making sure I keep the things in my personal life my top priority, as much as I love writing.
> 
> I lost my motivation and creativity after school ended due to problems with my laptop (This chapter got completely deleted twice), family, and mental health but I'm elated because with some advice from my therapist and the support you all gave me, I found my motivation again! I wrote the last of this yesterday and today! And while it's not perfect, I'm so happy to have finished it.
> 
> I wanna thank everyone who's left kudos and comments, it means a lot to me. Not to mention, some of you have left some amazing ideas in the comments that I would love to incorporate when the time comes.
> 
> So, I'm so happy to finally find my motivation again and thankful to all of you! :)
> 
> Until next time, baiii!
> 
> -Merce


End file.
